- Senior hire reflects growing market opportunity for specialist lenders in the North of England
- Current loan book at £806mn, following record 2017
Specialist property lender Octopus Property, part of the Octopus Group, announces the appointment of Carl Graham as Business Development Manager, North of England, as it continues to grow its loan book in the region, supported by favourable market dynamics.
Carl brings nearly 15 years’ sales and real estate experience. He will be responsible for driving further loan book growth, across both commercial and residential investment, in the North of England, as property professionals increasingly seek the higher yields and opportunity for capital growth available to them.
Since 2011 Carl has been Sales Director at Bridgebank Capital, where he sat on the main Board and was responsible for setting up the ‘Quantum by Bridgebank Capital’ brand, growing the mortgage book by 300% within 12 months of launch. Prior to this, he held a number of other business development and underwriting roles.
2017 saw Octopus Property transact record volumes, growing the loan book to over £800mn following the launch of its unique Lifecycle Lending proposition. Carl’s appointment follows a number of other senior hires across the business over the past 12 months, including January’s appointment of Sean Deacon as Head of Core Credit and he joins a 62-strong first-class team, up from 40 at the start of last year.
Mario Berti, CEO of Octopus Property, commented:
“Carl has built a reputation in the market for truly understanding borrowers financing requirements and delivering significant business growth as a result. As investors and developers increasingly look to diversify their property portfolios away from London and the South East, Carl’s market intelligence and deep intermediary network will be invaluable in supporting our ambitious plans for 2018, as we target a multi-billion pound loan book and a number of innovative new product launches.”
Carl Graham added:
“The decision to join the Octopus Property team was an easy one, given its reputation as a market leader in the provision of customer-focused fast and flexible financing, for borrowers at every stage of the real estate cycle.”
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For journalists in their professional capacity only. Personal opinions may change and should not be seen as advice or a recommendation. We do not offer investment or tax advice. Issued by Octopus Property. Octopus Property is the trading name of Bridgeco Ltd (Reg No 6629989), Fern Trading Ltd (Reg No 6447318), Nino Ltd (Reg No 9015082), Octopus Property Lending Ltd (Reg No 7531926) and Octopus Co-Lend Ltd (Reg No 8913299), Registered Office: 33 Holborn, London EC1N 2HT, registered in England and Wales and Dragonfly Finance S.ar.l. (Reg No B189290) Registered Office: Parc d’Activité Syrdall, 6 Rue Gabriel Lippmann, L-5365, Munsbach, Luxembourg registered in Luxembourg. Octopus Property Lending Ltd and Octopus Co-Lend Ltd are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Issued February 2018.